pelosi for their support of this bill. i thank my colleagues, the gentlelady from guam, and also from the northern mariana islands, ms. bordallo, and mr. sablan, for their co-sponsorship of this bill. mr. speaker, today american samoa faces a serious problem of tobacco smuggling, as i'm sure it's the same with the other territories. according to a recent study two years ago, as many as five million, five million d 5,792,924 cigarettes were smuggled into the territory. the study found that tobacco smuggling resulted in the loss of about $724,,116 in revenues to the american samoa government. if continued undeterred, tobacco smuggling in the territories will include to heavier losses in local tax revenues, especially if cigarettes' excise tax rates were to be increased. mr. speaker, in this age of government fiscal responsibility, securing and sustaining stable resources of local revenue streaming is essential and must be encouraged for the territories. it was for this reason why i began to look into this important issue and